iOS development

How to build a top-tier iOS app

We began building high-quality iOS apps when the very first iPhone launched and we haven’t stopped since. Innovation and change define the mobile landscape, and Apple’s iOS remains at the forefront. Our iOS team embraces change, and as the iOS ecosystem has grown we have incorporated every new feature and technology.

We understand how the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV, and Mac product lines can work together, and know how to leverage each of their strengths to create solutions spanning all of Apple’s mobile offerings.

WillowTree iOS app developers stay on top of emerging trends in software development and architecture, working closely with clients to build incredible apps their audiences want to use and keep coming back to. Our commitment to quality and staying on top of the changing mobile landscape makes it essential for our mobile developers to leverage as much reusable work as possible. For that reason, we maintain:

Best practices with regard to Apple and open source frameworks and libraries. This allows us not only to select the right tool for the job, but also understand how to use it the best and most efficient way possible.

A set of internal and open source helper libraries and frameworks. These include helpers for efficient functional programing, layout, database, and other common tasks. These allow us to ignore the boilerplate parts of development and focus on adding real value to our projects.

High-quality, high-performance, reusable UI controls that are in line with Apple’s user interface guidelines and integrate seamlessly into any iOS app. Our UX team has iterated on these guidelines to ensure every iOS app we ship features an excellent user experience that doesn’t have to be built from scratch for every project.

Project Example: Wyndham Rewards

Our mobile-first reimagining of Wyndham Hotel Group's rewards and loyalty program saw a 241% increase in usage within 30 days of launch.

Choosing a great iOS development agency

So how do you hire a great iOS development company? Of course look at their experience and capabilities, but the devil is really in the details. Shoddy software is the result of cut corners that the client often cannot see – you need a team that takes pride in its work and makes sure every application is highly performant and maintainable. So what to look for? Some examples:

The team should be tightly integrated with the UX team. There are significant gains to be had by designing apps well for the iOS platform and a successful team helps guide the UX team in this manner. If the iOS team isn’t fighting for better designs for their platform then they’re not experienced enough to trust.

The team should be tightly integrated with the QA team. Any successful team needs to have a strong affinity towards testing and a should be working with QA daily. Having a strong testing suite built around your app is critical to the success of your app and ensuring the team can focus on building great features instead of playing whack-a-mole with bugs.

The team should be security focused. Avoiding security issues up front can save development time and results in a better product. While external security scans can turn up some issues, a security issue in your app is enough to ruin your reputation and it’s not worth the risk to employ a team that’s going to treat that as a low priority.

The team should be efficient. iOS teams need to have a desire to make great apps, but at the same time no one needs to make a $10,000 button. A successful iOS team knows the expansive list of effective open source libraries that can speed up development and knows when and how to leverage them.

WillowTree is an official Apple Mobility Partner (MPP)

We’re proud to be a member of Apple’s rigorously exclusive Mobility Partner Program (MPP). This distinction is evidence of Apple’s faith in the WillowTree process to consistently deliver world-class digital products for top-tier clients.

The WillowTree iOS experience

The WillowTree iOS team has been around since the earliest days of the App Store. Today we have:

Created hundreds of iOS apps

Created Apple TV apps (it was featured the first day Apple TV apps hit the App Store)

Created Apple Watch apps

Integrated with AirPlay

Integrated with Chromecast (described by a Google employee as, “the best Chromecast integration we’ve seen to date”)